The season tipped off and then it didn’t. On Friday Pitt played Gonzaga for only one half of basketball that was cancelled due to poor court conditions. The Panthers were looking solid in the first 20 minutes as they held a 37-35 lead at the break.
Before Pitt moves on to play St. Joseph’s of Indiana on Tuesday November 17th a look back at the half of basketball that wasn’t is in order. First things first the issue of the poor court conditions, which led to made players look as if they were on an ice rink. The problem was that there is no air conditioning in Foster Field House, consequently a humid night and a packed gym with players generating even more heat destroyed what could have been a great matchup. The biggest question from this has to how does something like this happen? It has been known for a longtime that the game was being played in Okinawa, did the NCAA do any research beforehand into the physicality? The answer seems to be an obvious no. Both teams were lucky to walk away without any major injuries. James Robinson knows better than anyone just how bad it could have been, in the first half his feet came out from under him resulting in a brutal blow to the face. Hopefully, the NCAA will be more prepared next year, putting kids in danger like that is unacceptable.
Offense:
Now onto the actual play and even though they were in action for only 20 minutes there are plenty of takeaways. First off the offense looked solid as a whole. On the evening they shot 11-25 (44%) from the field, 4-10 (40%) from three, and 11-14 (78.6%) from the line. In the case of three point percentage and free throw percentage Friday night showed a dramatic increase over last year’s averages. During last season the Panthers shot 68.5% from the line and 33.9% from three. It was only one half, so those averages may not of held up, but just watching the game it was evident they were confident shooting the ball. The offense also seemed to use more of a focus on perimeter shooting. Last season they averaged 14 threes attempted per game, but against the Bulldogs Dixon’s squad was on pace to attempt 20 threes by the end of the game. The star of the offense was junior forward Michael Young. While Jamel Artis struggled with foul trouble only playing four minutes it was Young who carried them to the end of the half. Young put up 11 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 3-4 at the line. Other offensive highlights came from James Robinson and Chris Jones who had seven points apiece. Also, bench player Cameron Johnson put up five quick points. Unfortunately the game only gave us a sample of what could have been.
Defense:
The offense may have shown some upgrades from a year ago, but the defense had its’ fair share of struggles. Before the game everyone knew who Gonzaga wanted to get the ball to, Kyle Wiltjer. Apparently Pitt did not as they let him score the Bulldogs first seven points of the game and watched him finish with 15 points in 17 minutes of action. There is no denying that Wiltjer is a stud that will score, but the problem was that the Panthers let him get easy looks. He was left wide open from three on several occasions as he banged in three of six from deep. The rest of the Zags were not as effective as Wiltjer against the Panthers. In just one half they had nine turnovers. Pitt forcing turnovers was key, because Gonzaga shot an efficient 50% from the field. Other than leaving Wiltjer open on the outside the defense did an effective job guarding the Bulldog shooters holding them to 1-5 from deep outside of Wiltjer. Finally, the Panthers did a solid job of playing defense without fouling. In the half they had nine fouls, but Gonzaga attempted just seven free throws. Last season Pitt let up around 19 free throw attempts per game, so this is encouraging to see them play defense without fouling.
Conclusion:
Overall this half a game showed a lot of promise for the 2015-16 Panthers. They came out letting it fly and were not scared of playing a top ten team. Their offense looked more explosive than it did a year ago. As well, the bench showed quality depth, which will give Dixon plenty of lineup options going forward. Unfortunately not more could be seen. Playing a solid first half is good, but finishing is what matters most.